


Shiver

by uaevuon



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Aftercare, Bondage, Dom/sub, F/F, nonsexual intimacy, nonsexual kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 14:30:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6055033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uaevuon/pseuds/uaevuon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami and Korra's adventures in kink post-vacation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shiver

**Author's Note:**

> side pairings and past violence mentioned. you can consider this my contribution to femslash february? i've been working on it since june though...

It had started in the spirit world. There were no papers to fetch, no responsibilities from which to need a break, no handcuffs, nothing but rolled-up blankets on the ground and the sound of far-off nocturnal spirits chattering under the light of the moon, who drifted aimlessly across the sky, her silk sleeves undulating like waves behind her, so unlike the moon back home. 

They’d tangled their fingers together, and Asami smiled while Korra stared, stunned, unblinking, at their hands like she still didn’t believe it. 

“I’ve never had a girlfriend before,” she murmured when Asami asked what that look was for. 

“I have,” Asami said. “A few, actually.”

“When was this?”

“After you left. Before your letters.”

Korra redirected her incredulous stare to Asami. “Oh.”

By the time the sun came up, Asami had told an increasingly flustered Korra about all three of her previous girlfriends. 

“That sounds amazing,” Korra said, after every story, and after a long stretch of silence after the spirits began to make their waking-up noises, she asked, “Can we do that?”

“Which part?” Asami asked. 

“All of it.”

When they returned to Republic City, the first thing Asami did was take Korra by the hand and lead her to a tiny personal art gallery, where she strode without hesitation into the back room and said to the middle-aged woman spreading out sheets of fabric, “I need to have her fitted.”

The woman looked up at them, lifted one corner of her mouth in a very satisfied-looking smirk, and responded, “Certainly.”

Not long after, they left, with Korra wearing a thin necklace, white leather with a reinforced gold pendant, that made their friends at dinner assume, very loudly, that they were engaged (which, in turn, made a flabbergasted Artist Formerly Known As Wu stand up and exclaim, “Wait, that’s a thing?!”).

Asami responded with “Not quite” to the former; Korra with “What, two girls engaged? Yeah,” to the latter. 

The papers speculated the same, except that they predicted Mako as the betrothed. Asami suggested Korra stop wearing the little mark of belonging outside of the house; Korra wouldn’t hear of it. She hadn’t exactly gotten better with the press, though; when a reporter asked if Korra would be confirming her engagement to Councilman Mako anytime soon, she responded with, “Excuse me, you’re interrupting our date,” and continued on hand-in-hand with Asami while he stood there flabbergasted.

A block or so later, Korra stopped short and turned to Asami with eyes wide. “Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think if you wanted anyone to know yet.”

Asami laughed and kissed her right there in the middle of the sidewalk. “I want everyone to know,” she murmured against Korra’s lips. 

That night, when Korra asked, Asami cuffed her to the bed and tickled her until she cried, and then some, because Korra “begged for it so nicely.” Asami was pretty surprised Korra even asked in the first place; she’d been bound before, in a decidedly less enjoyable manner, and admitted that every once in a while she still caught sight of her nightmarish shadow-self following her around, her chains grating against the ground -- “But I trust you,” Korra explained, “so I’m not afraid.”

The papers ran another engagement piece, which was annoying, because really? They’d only been together a month! But at least this time they got the significant other right. Bolin spread the paper out on their lunch table and made a face at the outrageous remarks -- “ _It really shouldn’t be a stretch to think our Avatar could be so versatile!_ Who comes up with this?” -- and then asked Korra where she’d gotten the weird bruises on her wrists. 

“New cuffs” she said, without really thinking about it, and Bolin nodded in understanding, tugging at the volcanic rock bracers on his own forearms. 

“I feel that.”

When he left to find a bathroom, the girls laughed aloud, turning heads in the crowded restaurant, and whispered to each other about how he must have thought she’d meant her wristbands.

Korra had her favourite moments. There was the time Asami had brought her down to the warehouse after closing and clipped a chain to her necklace -- “Collar,” Asami corrected. “In public, sure, it’s a necklace, but when we’re alone you can call it what it really is.” -- put her on her knees, and left glossy lipstick kiss-marks on her skin, just under the edges of her clothes so that when they walked home together, Korra blushed furiously, her dark cheeks so saturated with blood that they weren’t just darker but redder, and constantly adjusted her clothes so no-one would see. 

Asami had her favourite moments. Once, she gave Korra a miniature radio that fit in her ear, assured her the line was private, that was the whole point, and sent her to work with it, saying they’d test it together later in the day. She proceeded to whisper “Hello, darling,” when she was sure Korra’s first class had already begun, followed by a series of tasks; “Spin on one foot for me… that’s a good girl.” “Use the word ‘discovery’ in a sentence.” “Show your students something in Wolf-Bear Stance. I do love seeing you on all fours.” Korra came home sweatier than usual, tore the little radio out of her ear, and practically pounced on Asami. 

“Whisper those things in my ear again. The radio doesn’t do you justice; I want to feel your lips brush against my ear, your breath tickle my hair…” 

Yeah. That was good. 

And when Asami asked Korra to get the paper, she didn’t even have to wonder why. She just did it. 

“The news, my lady.”

Asami lifted her eyebrows and took the bundle of pages. “I thought you were _my_ lady.”

“I thought I was your pet,” Korra said, as if there was no question. As if Asami had forgotten the obvious truth and she was just reminding her. 

“Is that what you want to be?”

Korra shrugged. “It’s what you called your exes, right? I like it.” She leaned over and planted her hands on the arms of Asami’s chair, and made like she was going to kiss her. At the last moment, she stuck her tongue out and licked Asami from her chin to her forehead. 

Asami was shocked for a moment, but then she burst out laughing. Korra just stayed in front of her, grinning with her tongue between her teeth. 

The next day the papers ran a photo of Wu’s tongue caught between Mako’s very surprised teeth, a flurry of important-looking documents scattered on the cobble streets around them. 

“He really didn’t know, did he?” Asami said. 

“Neither did I,” Korra pointed out. “Neither did you, before Fei Jun told you.” She stared at the photo a little longer.

“Think they’ll be anything like us?” Asami wondered aloud. 

“Maybe. Mako would probably like ordering Wu around.”

Asami shook her head. “Oh, please. Wu already has him wrapped around his finger. He’s not going to give that up. Besides, this is _Mako_ we’re talking about.”

Korra snickered. “Okay, yeah. You have a point.” 

“I should hope so. I like to think I know my own kind.” 

The whole of Team Avatar was left more or less alone for a while after that, because the novelty of so many high-profile people in “non-traditional” relationships had just about died down. Korra and Asami walked hand-in-hand everywhere; Mako and Wu spent most of the year on opposite sides of the world. Most surprisingly, Bolin was nowhere to be seen between the political intrigue and advertisements for movers and Satomobiles; he was subtle enough that not even Asami could figure out who was on the other end of the “open relationship” Opal giggled about. 

The next time they managed to find time for lunch with Bolin, he saw the fresh bruises on Korra’s wrists and blushed. He didn’t mention it until they were about to leave, but in an undertone, not meeting Asami’s eyes, he said, “You really should loosen those cuffs.”

“The bruises are worse when they’re loose,” Asami murmured back. 

He nodded slowly. “Guess that makes sense.” 

Korra liked to kneel on the floor and lean against Asami’s legs, reading the paper while the engineer pored over her company’s expenses, or offering suggestions for some new design that was never quite perfect enough. She did it so often that Asami started leaving a pillow at the foot of her chair, the one Korra always dragged over to rest her legs on. 

“What’s missing?” Asami mumbled at one of her schematics for a new plane. 

“Make it blue,” Korra said. “And have it breathe fire.” 

Asami laughed, but she did end up painting it blue. While it didn’t breathe fire, she did include a coating on the combustion and exhaust systems that could withstand the hottest flames Korra could throw at it. And a month later, it was the best-selling model yet. 

Clearly, a reward was in order. 

“Put your hands behind your back.” 

Korra did so, then asked why. 

“I’m going to tie you up.” 

Korra beamed. 

Asami started with a length of soft rope, about fifteen meters long; two sets of rope shears and several more bundles of rope lay on the table next to her. The middle of the rope went around Korra’s back, under her arms, crossed over the front of her chest, and looped over her shoulders. Asami tied the ends in a square knot at the back of Korra’s neck; a knot which wouldn’t allow the ropes to tighten, but also would come undone easily by Asami’s fingers when it was time to remove the bonds. 

“Are your arms comfortable?” Asami asked. Korra nodded. “Your back? Legs?” Korra nodded again. “Anything you want to say?” 

“I’m really excited,” Korra said. “You have that look you do when you’re going to do something new to me.”

“With you,” Asami corrected. “I’m doing something new, with you.” 

Korra grinned, and her face heated up, followed by the rest of her, filling with warmth at Asami’s warm words. 

After making sure Korra could roll her shoulders, and she wasn’t locking her knees, Asami set about tying her up the rest of the way. From the knot at the back of Korra’s neck, Asami wrapped the two ends of the rope around her arms, crossed them in the middle, and then around the other arm -- once, twice, three times, before making another knot. Three more times she wrapped the ropes, and again she made a knot. There wasn’t much left of the first rope, so she took two more from her reserves on the table, attaching one to each end of the first rope at the bight. 

“How are you feeling?” Asami asked. 

“Warm,” Korra responded. “You don’t usually cover me like this.” Her upper arms were bound to the elbow. 

Asami slid two fingers under the ropes on each side, testing each group of three to make sure Korra had room. “I’m going to cover you much more.” 

“I know.” Korra turned her head, looked at Asami over her shoulder. “Having fun?” 

Asami’s eyes seemed to sparkle when she said, “Yes.” She leaned forward and ducked her head to rest it between Korra’s shoulder blades. “And you?”

“Mm-hm. I told you, I’m excited.”

Delighted, Asami went back to tying. She continued wrapping Korra’s forearms all the way down to her wrists; the leftover ends went around Korra’s thighs, with their final knots just below her hips. Then she came around Korra’s front and took the other halves of the ropes she’d been using, and brought them forward to cross over Korra’s stomach. 

She left a kiss on Korra’s nose. Korra stood on her toes and licked Asami’s chin. 

Asami dropped the ropes, allowing the free ends to unravel from their twist and slump to the floor. She cradles Korra’s face in her hands and kissed her gently. 

Korra smiled into the kiss, until she wanted to pull Asami closer, and her arms wouldn’t move. “Asami.” 

“Hm?” 

“Let me out, I want to touch you.” 

“I thought you were excited about being tied up,” Asami teased. 

And Korra was excited. The conflict between wanting to touch Asami and wanting to see how much Asami could tie her up frustrated her. 

But Asami was already moving on, taking up the ropes again and winding them around Korra’s chest, securing them to the knots between her arms. Using another length of rope as well, Asami wove it in vertically, creating a thick square, not nearly as flexible as it looked, against the entire front of Korra’s torso. 

“How much more?” Korra asked, somehow impatient now that she’d found the frustration of unfulfilled desire to _touch_ that accompanied restricted movement. 

“I still have to do your legs.” Asami grinned up at Korra. She wouldn’t bind her legs too tightly; Korra might fall over, and in her tied-up state she’d probably get hurt even if she airbended herself out of falling on her face. “Move your feet apart a little.”

Korra shuffled her feet outwards until they were about a head-width apart. Asami started a new rope at Korra’s right hip, attaching it to the knot there; she wrapped once to the left and made a sailor’s knot around her finger. Then she wrapped right, passed the rope through the loop in the knot, and made another of the same knot around her finger. She did this the whole length of Korra’s leg, and the same in reverse on the other, and finally she stood up. 

“Is that all?” Korra expected that her legs would be tied together, that maybe she’d have to get on the ground… 

“You want more?” Before Korra could answer, Asami gripped a section of ropes between Korra’s shoulders. “On you knees.”

Ah. There it was. Korra slowly descended, Asami’s hold on the ropes keeping her steady when her own arms could not. Once Korra’s knees touched the ground, Asami didn’t let her drop any further.

“Stay there.” 

With the last length of rope, Asami employed a two-column tie she’d come up with herself on Korra’s ankles. It didn’t take much rope, so she had Korra kneel with her backside against her feet, looped the ends through the rope at Korra’s wrists, and then wove them into the ropes stretching across Korra’s obliques to match the weave in front. 

Korra was beginning to sweat inside her warm rope cocoon. Asami had tied her up over her clothes (which was the usual; rope burn wasn’t a fun pain) so the ropes trapped her body heat. 

Asami noticed the beads of sweat trickling down Korra’s temples. “You okay?” She pressed a few of Korra’s fingernails to check her circulation, looked at her eyes to make sure she wasn’t going out of focus. 

“I’m good. Just warm.” 

“That’s good.” She sat on Korra’s lap, facing her, her legs to either side, and she rested her arms on Korra’s shoulders. “Thank you for making my plane perfect,” she said, and then tucked her head into Korra’s neck. 

“That’s what all this was for?” 

“Mm-hm.”

Korra smiled. “You’re welcome.” She let Asami nuzzle her neck for a little while, then asked, “So when can I hug you?” 

“Not yet. You look good all tied up,” Asami mumbled against Korra’s skin. She started kissing the soft patter of Korra’s pulse, up her neck, over her jaw and cheek, left a lingering kiss on Korra’s lips. 

Asami stayed like that only a little longer; not wanting to leave Korra bound too long, lest her unusual pose cause her some sort of muscle injury. She untied Korra in reverse to how she’d tied her. As each limb was freed from its confines, Asami rubbed circles into Korra’s skin, helping her tense muscles to relax, and when the final rop came away from Korra’s shoulders, Asami pressed kisses all over her face as she massaged Korra’s arms and upper back. 

“Bed?” Asami asked. 

Korra nodded, her eyelids drooping. Even though she hadn’t moved much, the tying had still made her sleepy. She didn’t even squawk as she usually might when Asami lifted her into her arms, only clutching tight to her shirt. Korra allowed herself to be carried into Asami’s bedroom, set down on the bed, and tucked in as Asami got in beside her. 

She felt Asami’s fingers on her face; with that point of contact, Korra fell asleep almost immediately.


End file.
